Blog Post #7

Liwonde National Park provided the chance for some great team bonding, sharing various stories and experiences. The team split into two groups (boys and girls), both of which would do a jeep safari and a boat safari. The girls kicked off the day early, leaving for their jeep safari just before 7am. The boys then left just over an hour later for their boat safari. Both groups then came back to camp for lunch and headed out again on the alternate safari. The boat safari consisted of draw dropping scenery, the occasional elephant, a variety of birds, dozens of hippos and a couple crocodiles that were a little too close for comfort. The jeep safari provided the groups with a much closer view of the wildlife, getting up close and personal with families of elephants, baboons, waterbucks, impalas, buffalo (which turn out to be very intimidating when several hundred don’t lose eye contact with you for the entire time you’re looking at them), and many others. The boys also got the added benefit of watching the sunset as they ended their jeep safari, not a bad way for Nick and Ben V to spend their birthdays if you ask me.

On Tuesday 21st we are said goodbye to Ben van Driel, who returned home to be best man at his best friends wedding. We all wish him the best and would like to thank him for his great work for the outreach workshop.

Tuesday was also Dee’s birthday which was celebrated with a pizzas and big game of man hunt around Falls Baptist. What more do you need to celebrate your 21st birthday?

The coaching workshop was completed on Thursday, with Maria leading the team from start to finish. Day 1 of the coaching workshop started off with an introduction, followed with an explanation of the four corner model and how to start a coaching philosophy. Day 2 then covered reflection, inclusion and the STEP Principle. Day 3 brought what I believe to be the workshops greatest achievement, the SMART goal setting and SWOT analysis section which was superbly lead by myself and Caleb. Day 4 ended the week with assessments, a great chance for the Malawian participants to show off what they have learnt over the week. Each day also ended with a practical session, allowing the participants to put the theory from the morning into practice.